


The Art of Deception

by xuhei



Series: Triads AU [2]
Category: C-Pop, EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Mafia AU, Smut, but if you like drama then its cool, kinda??, uh its a bit weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 17:13:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10365561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xuhei/pseuds/xuhei
Summary: Luhan is trying to hold onto his own reality. You wouldn’t do that. He thinks you wouldn’t. He knows you’ve been hiding things from him and he knows there’s truth behind your words but he thinks that everything you’ve told him is not a lie. You love him. You do.





	

Fraud is an art. Quite simply, it is something which only the best of the best, the very crème de la crème, could undergo. Likewise only those who had experienced the act itself could spot someone partaking in fraudulent activities. So they say, at least. Criminals would boast their ability to spot a charlatan before they even knew what one was.  

Personally, Luhan had not experienced a fraud in his life. It wasn’t that he was just lucky, or that he hadn’t noticed - he always played it safe. The fact alone that he was shortest (but about) of the Chinese leaders in Seoul, and that he was considered the weakest, contributed to his caution.  

Luhan would not leave the house without a gun. He would not breathe without a face mask. He certainly would not dare show any emotion to anyone apart from his younger brother Huang Zitao (who would cry at dramas of any kind, as well as thunderstorms). He was untouchable among his men, that was set in stone for all.  

“Excuse me, Sir.”

The very man turns his head to the side when hearing his call and raises a brow at the inferior who called for him. His mere secretary stands there with her usual disdained look on her face with her lips painted an awful fuchsia colour. Luhan couldn’t fire her because she knew too much about him. “Yes?”

“There’s someone here to speak with you,” she tells him. Her dark painted nails rest on his shoulder as she leans into him in almost a protective way. “A girl. Around the same age as you. Says she has a potential investment for you, but I am sure that she was being tailed.”

Unfortunately for his secretary, Luhan knows about her failing marriage and desire to have Luhan take her hand for marriage. He won’t take her jealous words stop him from potential business. “Send her in.”

Her bleached blonde hair is thrown over her shoulder as she walks back out of the room with a discriminative grin on her face. Of course she wanted to be closer to Luhan – he had more money than she probably dreamed of at night. Failed marriage, how typical. He almost wants the girl outside to walk in and be so desirably attractive his operative secretary will lose her shit.

When you do, walk in that is, it’s Luhan that almost loses his shit.

“Wǎnshàng hǎo, Lu Han,” you greet with a bow. There’s a stiffness in your actions that immediately catches Luhan’s attention. You have either never done this before or you’re nervous about meeting the one and only ge that all wished to be so close to. He’s unsure which is more likely.  

“Good evening to you too,” he answers coolly. The tone he uses is one that he would use towards his partners. It’s one that he hopes will calm your nerves so you can have a normal conversation – though you’re not a model he finds your stance rather appealing. Beautiful, if he may. “I haven’t yet been advised of your name. Please, have a seat.”

You nod once and take a seat in the chair that is sat directly opposite too Luhan. Only twenty minutes earlier Zhang Yixing had sat in that chair and convinced Luhan to order more medical supplies so that less men died on the streets. Luhan handled all money related business, of course, though he had never really be fond of finances. He imagined that you would be more afraid to talk with Yixing because of the look of anger Yixing carried on his features, much like Kris.  

But Luhan watches carefully. He notices the way you smooth down the dress that you’re wearing which is far from revealing and how you cross one leg over another so that he can perfectly see the Louboutin heels you’re wearing. Unfortunately, he is quick to make his assumptions about you. “Are you here on behalf of your husband?”

“Husband?” You repeat. Luhan sees confusion in your eyes and immediately regrets his decision to speak so carelessly. He had just assumed. “My apologies, Lu Han, but I have no husband. I find it rather degrading that you believe that I would be my future husband’s messenger, yet alone that I would not be here myself to support you.”

Luhan nods with an apologetic glance. He bows his head and suddenly he feels the heat rising to his cheeks from the embarrassment. He won’t lie, he’s dealt with few women personally in his life regarding his work, that alone had made him believe that you would merely be… a messenger. “You have no need to apologise. I’m the one who is sorry, I didn’t believe that you were here to talk to me about work.”

He can’t see a ring, nor a necklace that denotes love or a watch that carries ownership. Everything about you is singular, there’s nothing that can lead Luhan to believe that you’re here for another group or for his made up husband figure. Of course he must be careful though, Do Kyungsoo was surely going to send someone to infiltrate him soon. But you’re alone and Luhan believes your story. He relaxes his body more.

“I wish to offer you eight million yuan.”

“Eight million?” Luhan questions. He’s heard higher figures, much higher figures in his life time, but not something so high from someone he’s not spoken with previously. He doesn’t even know your name. Yet, he is so intrigued. “What is this in return for?”

You simply shrug your shoulders. Luhan shifts forward in his seat with an unsteady breath that dictates the situation in his mind right now. He’s unsure of where you wish to go with this and he doesn’t know your name and… something is telling him this is so unsafe but he can’t listen to his own brain in the matter. “I wish to support you and your services, Lu Han.”

“If you wish to invest in my marble industries then my subordinates will be happy to confirm a deal with you. You did not have to come through me to–”

“Not those services, Lu Han,” you answer. There’s a hint of annoyance due to the lack of respect that Luhan is fully aware he’s got towards you, but luckily you continue, “I will leave it at this. I have a personal issue with Mr. Oh Sehun. I would like to settle it. You are the only person in the four triads that ever talks of uprising. I wish to support you.”

It dawns on Luhan then that you mean exactly what he wished you didn’t. He thought, just for a second, that he could have escaped the wars that went on between him, the Kim Brothers and the idiots that were all under Do Kyungsoo. The kings of fraud. He thought you weren’t going to drag him straight back to the art of deception. But, he knew now that he could not trust his own thoughts so much these days.  

“If you wish to accept the eight million yuan, then I will be waiting at Hǎidǐ Lāo from eight until nine in three days. I’m sure you’re familiar with the restaurant. I hope to see you there, Lu Han.”

You are gone just as quickly as you arrived. Luhan is left to watch you walk away with your steps seeming much more confident than before. He knows the place you wish to meet; he knows it far too well for his liking. The owner was a friend of his parents’ and Kris’ sister worked there on weekdays. Luhan had gotten her the job.

All this could tell him was that you were far more than a general woman who wanted a piece of the lionised Lu Han. Something told him that this was about more than revenge against Oh Sehun, but his mind had left the topic. He was trying to follow you but you had vanished like his own sense – all that was left behind of you was the smell of your sweet perfume and a date that he must attend to.  

“Gao Lin,” Luhan calls. His voice bounces off the walls and even Huang Zitao hears the call for the group’s head of intelligence. It’s as if everyone in the room knew what had just happened and feared speaking in case they were to face repercussions. The man comes running a few seconds later, cocktail and awkward flirting left at the bar as per his boss’ request. “Find out everything about the girl I just spoke to. She’ll be on the CCTV. And organise me an off the books flight to Beijing.”

Luhan thinks one day he’ll never live without you.

元角分

Luhan arrives in his home town an hour before he’s meant to meet his mystery. The girl, he has discovered through the means of Gao Lin, is named Li Ying. An an accountant that moved from her home town to China following her family’s breakdown a few years ago. One known sibling under a different surname. Changed her name under the law to bring herself away from the troubles of her family. Frequently used public transport and liked to stop at the local pet shelter to donate money.  

Li Ying was not someone that invested in Lu Han. They were from different worlds, yet she was still there. So when on the private plane to Beijing Luhan took the time to search her a little more intimately. Extensive searches into her Twitter and Instagram showed that she did in fact know Oh Sehun. The pair used to be friends, according to the deleted tweets and posts – Luhan had gained the ability to search for deleted posts with his rather tight security team. It had stoped four possible murders over the years.  

But she was here, and Luhan was taking this as a sign that he should help. Most people who offered him support – be it money or weapons or even themselves – they weren’t as forward as this. They didn’t make Lu Han go all the way to China for money. Though, quite unusually, Luhan did not complain. He wanted to go. Luhan waited three days like she said and now he was outside Hǎidǐ Lāo at 7:09pm without his suit on. The people around here did not wear suits; he would know this, since he grew up around here.  

“Luhan?” A girl asks. It immediately takes Luhan’s eyes off the watch on his wrist that he was watching impatiently. Personally, he felt he had enough money to make the clock hands move faster. “Luhan! Why are you here?”

Kris’ sister is Luhan’s caller. She stands opposite to his table with a smile on her face and notepad in her hands. Though he wishes for her not to be involved, Luhan still knows that this is his friend’s sister and he has to be nice, so he bows and greets her like his mother taught him to. “Good evening, Haiyan. I’m here to meet someone.”

“Is everyone else coming?” She asks, curiously.  

“No, it’s just me,” Luhan tells her. He doesn’t blame her for answering since her brother doesn’t talk to any one about his plans. The only reason Kris’ family knew he was still with them was because Zitao and Haiyan were the same age and the pair ended up at the same school for some time, so were friends. “Kris travelled to Europe on Tuesday to meet one of his shareholders. He’ll be back next week. Yixing is working as usual, and Zitao is flying to Shanghai on Sunday. How comes you’re working on a Thursday?”

Haiyan sighs. She glances over at her boss who is behind the bar, too busy on the phone to notice her employee distracted by an old friend. “Jiāmǔ is sick so I’ve had to work more to pay for her medication.”

“I’m sorry, Kris didn’t say anything. Is it serious?” Luhan asks. He knows Kris and his family are a touchy subject but he expected to know when Kris’ mother was sick. It was, realistically, a given.  

“The doctors aren’t sure, but she is strong. Everything will be okay, she said that she will out-live Yifan so I believe her,” Haiyan answers. She picks up Luhan’s empty glass and bows to him politely. “It’s good to see you well, Luhan. Make sure you stay strong for Yifan and Zitao, okay?”

Luhan won’t deny her request and instead smiles at Haiyan. As soon as she’s out of sight and in the back room of the restaurant Luhan sends a text to Yixing to ask if he can find any medical records on Wu Suyin and send the required medication to her address, at Luhan’s expense of course. He would help the Wu family out as much as he could after all they have done for him, so medication wasn’t a major debt to pay.  

What is a debt, however, is the next forty minutes he spends looking over the file Yixing sends him back within seconds. Wu Suyin has a form of cancer that Yixing claims to be impossible to treat. Of course Luhan does not believe the trained consultant. Haiyan believes it isn’t serious so he would stick with that pretence and he will give her any and all treatments that he deems necessary to keep Kris’ mother fit enough to outlive her son.  

He almost misses you walk through the door from how much attention he’s paying to the files. But you’re there, dead on eight o’clock with an unreadable expression on your face that shows how little you care for the world in this state. You’re angry. You want revenge. Some how, Luhan understands this. He respects your need to avenge Oh Sehun for whatever deeds he did to you.  

“Lu Han,” you state. His mere name has him looking up to you with an attachment of feeling. “I won’t lie. I didn’t believe you’d show up. There was a possibility of having to use bait to get you here.”

Luhan raises an eyebrow. “Bait? What could you possibly use as leverage against me?”

“It doesn’t matter now. You showed up.”

Touché.  

“I wish to accept your offer,” Luhan tells you, changing the subject with a hint of annoyance. He takes a deep breath and exhales with care. “On the conditions that you tell me your name and what Oh Sehun did to you.”

You hum in surprise. Though your eyes are widened more than usual and your mask of ignorance is slightly lifted, you have a job at hand. “My apologies for not being so clear before, Lu Han, but I am offering you the money. It’s yours if you tell me what you plan on doing with the Kim Brothers and the Unnamed under Do Kyungsoo. Then I’ll give you the eight million and you can earn my name, along with my story.”

“Understandable,” Luhan answers calmly. On the inside, he was intrigued. Perchance, this woman was the daunting he had ever met. He’d seen girls left right and centre in all corners of this land but none were like her. None contained the perfect mix of sublimity that made her everything and nothing altogether; a nonesuch, may he say.

Win my name, along with my story. Luhan could imagine Kris losing it with him for falling submissive to Li Ying, a girl with a lot of money and a desire for blood. He liked it. The desire and need for whatever she wanted. Passion was involved with her actions and that certainly has Luhan’s heart beating like he was drinking for the very first time once again. This is too easy, he thinks, but he doesn’t trust his thoughts. They’re deceiving him unlike any other.  

“I’m going to host a party with them all, right here in Beijing. They will have to come, Chen and Xiumin included, because it will be about more than business. I have some contacts and I believe I know who Suho’s bride to be is, and I have some secrets on Kai too. As for Do Kyungsoo and his dogs, they come running at the slightest piece of meat. When they’re all together, the war will begin. The best will win, and by my own prediction we will stand tall. My partner is good with a sniper.”

“As is Oh Sehun.”

Luhan has no idea how to respond. He had made up a plan that he hoped to remember later, but now he was being questioned on it. He did not know what to say. “You can kill Oh Sehun yourself.”

“I can?” You repeat. There’s a smirk on your face that makes Luhan bite his lip. Passion. A whole lot of it. “That might sell it for me, Lu Han. I assume the eight million will go towards weapons?”

Luhan shrugs lifelessly. He had other plans. Eight million yuan, just under one million pounds, could go a long way for European treatments for Suyin. That may end up being his plan. “To be decided. Maybe you could help me with that one day, since it’s partially your plan. You’re funding it, anyway.”

“You’d want me to help?” You ask softly. It’s a tone that Luhan hasn’t heard before and he surprises himself with how much he actually likes it. “I might just take you up on that offer, Luhan. I’d be happy to help you in any way that I can.”

A part of Luhan is on fire inside. He’s not sure why he feels like this but the way that you speak so effortlessly to him now with far less hesitation is something he physically enjoys. He wants to spend time with you, he wants to know more about you. “Well, that can’t happen unless you give me your name.”

“Li Ying, and here’s my number. The money will be on your desk in Seoul for when you get back,” you tell Luhan. He smiles to himself for finally getting the name he wanted from you. The best thing about it was the you didn’t lie about it, either. He could trust you, he believed. “But Luhan?”

He hums at the call of his name that distracts him from truly taking on how breath taking you look. He hadn’t noticed before, he assumed you to be as generic as everyone else. He was so wrong. “Yes?”

“Your partner who’s good with the sniper. Let him have his shot at Kim Kai. He’ll sleep better at night, then.”

You’re a force to be reckoned with. Luhan realises this as you walk out of the door with a bounce in your step that is accentuated by those damn Louboutins. No one other than Yixing, Luhan and Kris knew that Kai had been the one who killed Zitao’s younger brother in front of him.  

Luhan thinks that you’re going to only work for him, and it makes him smile widely.

元角分

Currently, Luhan is sitting at his desk with an unreadable expression. Zitao and Yixing sit opposite to him, both with frowns and uncomfortable demeanours. Kris is the only person to have spoken since he brought them in, though. He was the only person to express any views in the matter, which for Luhan made things impossible. Nobody dared to go against Wu Yifan’s word.  

“I’m not letting you do it,” Kris states. His back is against the glass door and his hands are balled into fists at the very sound of Luhan’s plan. “What is this? Your way of deceiving every single one of us and making the entirety of our force out to be stupid? You wish to bring all of them here and kill them. Luhan. You’re an idiot. It will never work. You’ll never pull it off. We won’t help you.”

Of course, it’s Zitao that immediately brings his own voice into the conversation. Luhan can already see that Kris is not happy with Zitao for having his own opinion. “Who would you be inviting?”

“That’s not the issue here, Tao!”  

“Hold on,” Yixing says. He rarely ever speaks up on an issue due to his calm persona. He liked to listen, not dictate, so when he spoke everyone knew that there was a problem. “Luhan, I too want to know who you plan to invite – then I can pass judgement to whether I think it’s a reasonable offence.”

Luhan nods. He knows how to win these two over, and hopefully their judgement would be enough for Kris to change his mind. “Everyone. I wish to see change and I will implement it. All of the Kim Brother’s and the Unnamed will be there, but I will have a special seat for both Kai and Baekhyun.”

Zitao is the first to react. He looks up with narrowed eyes of anger, his fingertips dug into the harsh material of his black jeans. Luhan respected the youngest of the leaders but he thought with his heart and it presented him with a weakness. Yixing, on the other hand, continues to stare at his own lap. He doesn’t say a word and Luhan worries that he may have used Byun Baekhyun’s name around Yixing too early.  

“Change?” Yixing asks. He takes an exaggerated breath and looks up to Luhan finally.  

“Of course. Change is what everyone wants to see.” Luhan takes a quick glance at Kris, who has fallen silent now among the plan finally being exposed. Maybe Kris did understand somewhere in his idealistic mind set. Things were okay now, Kris didn’t like risk all that much. “It can bring in new potential investors that will help us in the future, and if we get rid of all our competition now then we will be the biggest leaders in Eastern Asia.”

Kris sighs. It’s loud enough for everyone to hear but no one reacts to what noise he makes because they’re unaware of what such exasperation actually means. “There is no guarantee of any of this actually happening, Lu Han.”

“What have you done to try and help this situation, Kris!” Tao shouts. It comes out as more of a whine and Luhan is reminded of the true nature of his brother. Zitao likes to get his own way and was not afraid to express emotions about anything. “Kai gets away with anything and everything because you won’t fight against anyone. I’m pretty sure that makes you a coward. Nuòfū.”

Luhan can sense the argument brewing. A hot temper from Kris and whines from Tao would always spell trouble. But he’s immediately distracted by his phone in his pocket that’s buzzing rather obnoxiously. He almost ignores it for the fact that his brothers are in the room, but he firstly remembers that Yixing can patch either of them up if things get worse, and then it dawns what the last text he sent was.

Li Ying: I don’t believe that I have anything planned, Luhan

Li Ying: meet me in twenty minutes at Keulroriseukuchina, Sinchon Station

Luhan has to hide the smile on his face. He and Li Ying had been talking for a week now. She’d kept him interested with her speeches about anything and everything, and that alone make Luhan thankful for having her on his side. Maybe it was the fact she answered when he called her at three am one morning because he really could not sleep and she answered, telling him it had to be important or she was hanging up.  

They only spoke about their day and for what reason they were both awake at such an awkward time, but she never hung up. It brought a warm feeling to Luhan because he felt important to someone. Not a man who’s job it was to kill people and make money, but a man who had a deeper meaning. His heart was deceiving him and making believe that such a divine goddess would like him. Li Ying was a business partner but he wanted it to be so much more.  

Hence why he text her earlier asking if she was free to… hang out. Quote, unquote.  

“I’m leaving,” Luhan states. He’s not in the mood to deal with his brothers and even though they’re not particularly paying attention to him anyway, his voice is loud and overpowering to them. They stop their bickering immediately as the eldest (by a few months) walks around from his desk. “You’re all dismissed. Make up your minds on whether you’ll support me or not then tell me by next Thursday. I have to meet someone.”

Luhan isn’t sure why he doesn’t just refer to Li Ying as a client. He knows Zitao will question him about this someone at a later date but Luhan can’t bring himself to call Li Ying a client if his. He doesn’t get a chance to think about it anymore because he’s calling for his driver and rushing to get to the bar that he’s been to a few times in the past. He even gets to style his hair and darken his eyebrows to make him look a bit more presentable for this meeting.  

He’s walking into the door of the bar two minutes before the given meeting time. Due to the looks he’s being given, because he looks so business right now and everyone in the bar in wearing dressy clothes that aren’t suits, Luhan loosens his tie and relaxes his shoulders. As he approaches the counter he notices a space that’s made directly for him, cocktails practically screaming his name on the other side.  

But he’s stopped by a hand that curls around his own when he’s a few steps away from the spot that calls for him. He’s confused at first but the sweet perfume that hits his nostrils within seconds comforts him – this isn’t someone trying to con him. Li Ying is behind him.  

“The person sitting on the stall to the right of the person wearing a red dress has a knife in his pocket,” you state calmly. Luhan so carefully turns to look at you, meeting your eyes with an air on confusion on why you’re telling him the information – he doesn’t comprehend how you know this information. “He has been watching you since you walked in and I believe he wishes to cut your neck like you ordered your men to do to his son.”

The hand around his own loosens a little and instead you offer Luhan a smile, trying to play the scenario off as you both talking about less than someone potentially killing Mr. Lu. But it doesn’t click with Luhan, he’s not been protected like this before by someone he didn’t pay.  

“How do you know this?”

You continue to smile and smooth your hand over Luhan’s blazer. Slowly, you reach your lips up to Luhan’s cheek and press them to his warm skin gently. His heart almost stops outright, but he realises it’s a ploy to disguise their talk. “Every time he talks to someone he touches his right pocket to check something’s inside. Just a lucky guess but he picks up his glass with his left hand, so I’m assuming whatever is in there is something he will pick up with his left, dominant hand.”

“Shall we get a drink?” Luhan asks. He hopes that the man you’re pointing out won’t cause a scene because there’s too many people around here. But family means a lot to people around here so he can’t trust that instinct.  

“Let’s sit down first,” you answer. Your hand isn’t around his anymore but Luhan follows behind you as though your hand is still around his and leading him to do anything you want. He allows you, that’s the problem here. He thinks that since you just stoped him from walking into trouble, he can trust you. Even at a table that was in the middle of people who have the means to kill him at any point. “Why did you want to see me?”

Luhan refrains from answering too quickly, but relaxes into his seat upon noticing your gentle demeanour. “I won’t lie to you, Li Ying. I don’t go out a lot, but I wanted to go out tonight and you’re the only person I can actually go out with.”

“So it was wrong of me to assume you actually wanted spend time with me?” You ask Luhan.  

“What? No, of course not,” Luhan rushes. He realises his words and retracts them immediately. “I meant to say that I wanted to see you, of course I did. I just… I’m a bit shy, Li Ying.”

“That’s cute, Luhan. You don’t need to be shy around me. If I didn’t like you then I wouldn’t have given you my name and number.”

Luhan nods once, rather timidly. He was shy around people he felt a connection with. Luhan, the shy and reserved person who liked to sing and at one point wanted to be an actor, was not the same person as Lu Han, who had a desire to control the entire world with his brothers. “No promises. You do make me shy. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone as perfect as you pay attention to me.”

“We’ve moved on a bit since when you believed I had a husband. But thank you, I appreciate the kind words Luhan,” you answer, eyes a little brighter than before. Luhan would like to imagine your cheeks are very hot now.  

He does try to start a new conversation with you, but he’s interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat on the other side of the table. It seems Luhan doesn’t ever get you fully to himself because there’s always someone else there unless you’re texting him. When Lu Han looks up to the person who’s standing there, he’s a little anxious to see that it’s the person from earlier standing there.  

He’d probably have appeared weak if you wouldn’t have covered for him. When your eyes catch the father of the man who Lu Han had ordered to be killed, you knew exactly what to say. It was like you were trained for situations like this. “Good evening, Hao Bai.”

“Good evening,” the man says. Luhan questions how you know his name but remembers that somehow you managed to get eight million yuan on his desk without being caught by security. You knew a lot, Luhan was accepting this and believed it could work to his advantage. “Can we speak, Lu Han?”

Luhan looks over to Hao Bai with curious eyes. He knows that he shouldn’t say yes but he’s tempted. Luhan may have been shy but Lu Han liked getting anything he wanted. “I believe that right now, this would not be a good idea.”

“Do not disrespect your elder, Lu Han.”

“Hao Bai, how is your daughter’s marriage coming along?” You ask. Luhan thanks the change in subject because honestly he didn’t know the man had a daughter. “I hear that she and Lei Zhunyi are both doing well together. The wedding is on the eleventh of next month, isn’t it?”

Hao Bai doesn’t answer. Luhan is quick to notice how the man touches his right pocket quickly after hearing your words. Nervousness? Possibly. It made sense now. There was definitely something in there. “My daughter is no concern of yours.”

“You’re right. She’s not,” you confirm. Luhan doesn’t look to you but instead gives Hao Bai a look that confirms he’s not happy with the interruption. “I was just concerned as to where our invitation to her wedding was. I’ll assume it’s lost in the post.”

It’s silent for a moment. The scare tactics you’re using appear to be working and Luhan is very much impressed. He can trust you. You’re defending him with no reason. He doesn’t even worry when Hao Bai actually reaches his hand into his pocket, he just smirks knowingly. “Now, Hao Bai, its best you don’t pull anything in a packed bar like this. Do you really wish to be arrested before your only daughter’s wedding?”

“Give her our best regards, Hao Bai,” you finish. The man is left with no power left in the situation and all he can do is stand there with a balled fist and degradation written all over his face.  

Luhan knows, at this time, that he wants to see you more often. Preferably away from the rest of the public so the two of you can talk about something other than business.  

元角分

Luhan does not see Li Ying until the wedding that Hao Bai was forced to invite them too. The man in question did not know Li Ying’s name so had to just write on Luhan’s invitation “with your plus one”, which put a smile on Luhan’s face immediately. He liked the idea of him and Li Ying being together, and he liked it a lot more when he met her outside the building she worked at looking like she carried the light of all the stars in the universe.  

“Wow,” Luhan mumbles. His mouth is left open as you leave the elevator with your hand adjusting the purse you hold. He thought you were beautiful before but now he couldn’t even think with you in his sights. You were everything to him at this moment in time.  

“Wǎnshàng hǎo, Luhan,” you greet politely. Your pink painted lips curl into a smile upon seeing him and Luhan’s heart is beating so quickly that he thinks he could have a heart attack. Luckily he has Yixing on speed dial. “I didn’t think you’d be here so quickly, but I’m glad you are. I missed you.”

Luhan has missed you too. He holds out his hand for you to take and as soon as your skin touches his a familiarity washes over him and he finds himself sighing in contentment. He hasn’t seen you in person for almost three weeks, not including all the times he’s facetimed you and called you to see if you were still okay.  

“You look breathtakingly beautiful, Li Ying,” Luhan states. He fails to move for a minute so he can process your full image. He wants to be seen with you everywhere. “I’m truly convinced that you’re a goddess in disguise.”

You crack a grin at his words, subject to his kindness and flattery by choice. It was cute, the way he spoke so fondly of you – Luhan was no longer as shy as he appeared to be before. “To be honest with you Luhan, I think you’re too kind to me for your own good.”

“Too kind, or just unusually honest?” Luhan asks. He thinks that maybe, just maybe, he has a chance with you if things stayed this way. “Shall we go now? My car is waiting just outside.”

Following your eager nod, Luhan tugs at the hand you’ve already placed in his and takes you out to where his car is pulled up just a few steps away. Well, it’s not a car - it’s the limousine that he used on the rare occasion but he didn’t mind using it today. It matched with you so well. Luhan could almost picture all the days you’d spend on here, looking so perfect on the black leather seats with you baby pink dress on and dark heels. Everything about you matched with Luhan. He couldn’t try deceiving himself in that matter.  

“I can’t believe that Hao Bai still invited us,” Luhan states. He reaches over you and pulls out of side pocket a small bag that you pay no attention to. Though you’re not watching his every move it seems like you’re surveying the car you’re in. In fact, Luhan feels like you do this a lot, but assumes it’s a character trait.  

“I know! I really thought that he would hate me for saying all of those things. He’s meant to be an asshole,” you reply with a humoured tone. “But I guess he didn’t want his daughter to be married with bad karma. You never know, things might get a little awkward for our friend if he doesn’t learn not to knife people in the middle of busy places.”

Luhan raises an eyebrow. “Hao Bai has killed someone before?”

“Yes. Unsurprising that he got away with it but we should expect no less from someone who tries to escape the law constantly,” you tell Luhan.  

“Let’s hope that one day he’s locked up for good then,” Luhan says, chin tilted up as though he’s addressing his own men. Despite the fact he was terrible with words around girls, Luhan was a pretty good public speaker. Aside from that, he had one thing on his mind right now. “Can I ask you something really strange?”

Of course you frown a little at his already strange question, but eventually you nod out of curiosity. Luhan, deep down, hopes that you feel something similar towards him. But if you don’t, that’s okay – having you around is good enough for him. As a friend you were good to talk to too; no lying or false praise, and certainly no talking about your failing marriage like it wasn’t happening just as his secretary did. Most of all, he felt safe around you. Like you weren’t this kind of fraud he’d avoid his whole life.  

“How would you feel if I kissed you?”

He tells himself that it’s too early to ask these things but it’s too late now. He asked already. You’re already thinking up an answer in the seat beside him and it’s leaving him completely flustered beside you. Luhan had to apologise for this and promise never to do it again that was the only way he’d get out of this and—

Luhan’s thought process is interrupted by your hand on his cheek. Since he was already facing you, he only has to look up from the black of the leather to admire your features and the first thing that he does when he notices how close to him you are is take a deep breath. He’s sure you’re getting closer. It’s hard to tell because he’s trying not to actually collapse right now from the situation he could be facing if you carry on inching further and further forward.  

Yet you still kiss him, and dear god he thinks that it might just be the most rewarding experience in the world. Your lips are so soft and the way your hand cups his check so delicately as you press harder against him and bring your over hand to his chest is infuriating. He wants more but he can’t cope with any more. Luhan is on the verge of bringing his hands to your hair to pull you closer to him but you move back from him before he has the chance to do such a thing.  

“How do you feel now that I have kissed you?” You ask, turning Luhan’s question around.  

His mouth is dry and it does almost stop him answering you altogether, however Luhan somehow manages to clear his throats and regain a comfortable enough position to give you the actual answer than he wanted to give. “I feel like we should do it again.”

“Mkay, I agree with that.”

Luckily for Luhan you don’t need to hear his words twice before you pounce on him. Both your hands are on his chest now as he covers your lips with his own and lets himself fall into you. He’s never felt this sensation before with any other girl he’s been with. It’s almost as if you’re trained to make him fall in love with every little one of his movements and it almost makes him sick.  

He is falling in love with you. With the way you talk and the way you walk and especially the way your lips mould with his as if they’re meant to be. It probably was not the same for you. There was no way that you were in love with him as you pushed your body closer to his in an attempt to feel more. Experience all.  

The hand he’s resting on your hip squeezes your skin a little and you take it as a cue to make more of an effort with him. He doesn’t mean it that way but Luhan was in no way trying to stop you, not when you’d swing your leg over his and straddled his lap like it was a seat made only for you.  

“Luhan,” you mumble quiet. Your voice is soft and it troubles Luhan to almost hear you pained in your words. He nods, keeping his eyes shut as he feels your lips just hovering over his own. “We’ve only known each other the past month.”

Luhan breathes out a sigh of relief at your words. He thought for a moment you’d tell him something he’d never want to hear but that as far better. “That’s a month worth of dates I’ve missed with you.”

“You like me?” You question.  

“I like you very much,” Luhan admits. His new found confidence is only down to the fact he believes that you’ll say something similar back to him. “If I didn’t like you then I wouldn’t spend so much time with you. Tell me, Li Ying, is that the answer you wanted to hear.”

Your own timid nod has a smile on Luhan’s face. You’re still sitting on his lap with knees either side of his body but that seems to have slipped your mind as you continue with your conversation. “I won’t lie to you. It’s exactly want I wanted to hear.”

“Then I’ll be happy to say it again until it the last thing you ever remember,” Luhan states, following the true romantic heart he really embraces. He thinks it’s a bit cheesy but judging by the smile on your face, you don’t mind too much. In fact, he believes you’re enjoying it. Luhan believes that he has a real chance with you for the first time in the past month. “Can you tell me one thing, too?”

You nod shyly. “Of course. What’s do you want to know?”

“Do you like me?”

“I won’t lie to you, Luhan,” you say calmly. It’s almost recited but Luhan pays no attention as you lean in once more and press your lips to his to seal the unwritten deal between the two of you. A kiss, that’s all it takes.  

Luhan thinks that the kiss you give him is your way of telling him that you like him, too.

元角分

“Walk with me,” Luhan says. He reaches his hand for your own but when he realises that you’re in the middle of the corridor with many of his employees that loved to talk, he just lets his hand fall down by his side.  

You follow Luhan through the hall towards his office, occasionally glancing around at the different cubicles that had various employees inside. For Luhan, it’s interesting to see how surprised you are with the amount of people under his control – and this was only one floor.  

“I’ll be holding the event on the 25th of September,” Luhan tells you. He immediately looks behind him to see your expression and is not disappointed by the look of bloodlust on your face. “I know it’s only three months to plan everything, but my partners wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Well, most of them.”

“Can I meet them?” You ask.  

Luhan nods gently and offers his hand to you now that you have both finally reached the end of the corridor. You accept it, skin on his being such a simple pleasure that it almost hurts him. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you, but that’s why you’re here today.”

“Really?”

“Would I lie to you?” Luhan questions, emphasising the fact that there are no secrets between the two of you. Anything you did, you did it together. That’s how it had been since Hao Bai’s daughter got married almost a month ago now.  

The two of you were practically inseparable – Luhan had invited you on his trips to Japan and China, even if just for a day, so he could spend all his time with you. Sometimes it was just for a night because he’d been in a meeting all day  and you’d just lay next to him at night, occasionally stroking his hair and whispering affirmations. It was exactly what he needed; the time he spent with you was absolutely perfect. The happiness he felt almost deceived him into thinking that everything was fine.  

Were you his girlfriend? No. Well, maybe. It was a bit of an odd topic since neither of you actually brought it up. Luhan was still too shy to outright say to you ‘uh, hey, are you my girlfriend?’ and you weren’t the type to ask him either. He couldn’t imagine the word boyfriend leave your lips right now. Luhan hadn’t done more than kiss you at this moment and for him, that was good enough. Because, when you laid in his arms when he was in another country and let him kiss you softly, to him it felt like home. Nothing felt foreign.  

“In here,” Luhan says. He gestures to a door with a glass frame and inside the figures of three other men can be seen. One of them, the only one standing, looks much bigger in person than Luhan does. Then the one with glasses and hair pulled back into a hair tie looks the youngest, and the final one in a white coat with his legs crossed most certainly seems to be the doctor Luhan always spoke of. His talented friend, and more talented partner.  

“Ni hao,” you greet. The echo of your voice catches the attention of all the men in the room and each of them turn to you, none bowing or talking. They just stare, and Luhan immediately takes a step in forth of you in an attempt to make them less intimidating. But you, his kind-of girlfriend, have it all under control. “Xing hui?”

Luhan is quick to notice Kris’ narrowed eyes. Though he returns the look straight back at Kris, his elder doesn’t reciprocate and you’re left to bear the pressure of Kris’ harsh eyes. Luhan couldn’t introduce you to his family so this was the next best thing, and it was going okay he supposed. Kris was obviously going to be weary since Luhan never introduced them to girls. Especially not to anyone like you.  

“Is that from the new Chanel collection?” Zitao asks. He hasn’t even introduced himself but the youngest is already staring at the boots you’re wearing like they are prized possessions that only one person on earth could possess. Luhan, unfortunately, felt the same way about you.

“The one and only,” you answer with a grin. You turn your leg to the side to present the logo and Zitao audibly gasps to express his content in what you’re wearing. Luhan knew that Zitao went to the fashion shows either side of assassinating anyone he wished (or anyone Kris told him to – Huang Zitao used his talents very well). “Nice to meet you Zitao, along with you, Yixing and Kris.”

Yixing bows his head, but Kris just stares. He doesn’t want to show emotion but Luhan can tell that Kris has nothing to say to you so he just stands there to try and think of something. When Zitao brought home a girl, Kris had said she wasn’t good enough. When Yixing found a potential partner Kris went so far into their history that he managed to connect them to the Kim Brothers some how. Kris did not want one of his brothers deceived.  

“I’m sure that Luhan has told you about what will be happening on the 25th of September.” Your words definitely make Kris glare. Luhan is left to watch as you dig a hole with his partner who already didn’t like you because he simply didn’t know you.  

“Yes, we’re all on board,” Yixing states. He was a leader when he needed to be. Luhan could tell by the look in your eyes that you liked him already and it left an ounce of jealousy running through his veins. “Invitations will be sent out next week. All of the Kim Brothers will be attending, along with the Unnamed and some of those other boyscouts that Byun Baekhyun gets himself involved with.”

Luhan is surprised that you know who Yixing is talking about. You nod at Yixing’s words and bite down on your lower lip at the mention of the men who all worked with each other but claimed to hate each other. But he stays quiet to hear your response. He likes listening to you talk, he especially likes yeh way people look up to you when you say a single word. “I heard he sent Park Jimin to prison after using a woman to retrieve information about him. How brave of—”  

“—(y/n)?”

You look round at the name being called, both Yixing and Luhan also turning too. The name was unfamiliar but you turned so quickly that Luhan knows in his heart it’s something to do with you. A sister, maybe? Someone that had something to do with you ash Oh Sehun? Plausible. You’d still not told him what Sehun had done to you.  

“(y/n)? Why are you here?” The man asks. It’s one of Luhan’s office workers that sorts out finances but the man seems adamant that your name isn’t Li Ying and it makes Luhan angry in the inside. Why was he interrupting the three of you talking so carelessly? It was unforgivable. “I haven’t seen you in so long! How do you know Lu Zhu Xi?”

Kris is the first to clear his throat at the distraction. It was rude but Luhan is thinking about the name. He thinks it must be nothing special, but it is still playing on his mind. Either way, the hand that it’s near yours reaches out a little so he can brush his fingertips over your own. Kris can do the speaking. “We are talking in here.”

“My apologies, Wu Zhu Xi,” the man says. He bows in an apologetic way but keeps his eyes on you as though he’s seen a ghost. Maybe has has, but Luhan won’t accept it.  

He just turns to you, a delicate expression that doesn’t match the others in the room who have no care for you apart from the plan you wish to set in action. When you notice Luhan’s worried glance, you lean forward and bring your lips to his ear so that only he could hear you. “(y/n) was what people called me before I changed my name.”

Luhan believes you without a second word.  

元角分

“Please,” you beg. There’s a hint of suggestion in your voice and Luhan knows you’re talking about more than him just kissing you. You’ve got a hand resting on his belt buckle and he can just feel you tugging at it to get his attention. “Luhan. I need you.”

He has to hold back a moan at your words. It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought about this before – you being all over him and touching him in places that he needed. If he wasn’t honest he couldn’t not think about that because every time he saw you it made him think about life with you, and life including him having you pinned beneath him on the bed whimpering with his every touch.  

Now here you were, laying directly below him on a bed somewhere in the middle of Xian, and Luhan could not think of anything better than this. “You need me?”

“So badly,” you tell him. Your fingertips are needy on his shirt and you try to pull it out from the suit trousers he’s been itching to take off since he saw you waiting on his bed in little more than velvet shorts, a crop top and the hoody he’d given you when you were cold last night in the city.  

Luhan lets you unbutton his shirt as he pays attention to your jaw bone. A nip here, suck there; he’s leaving his mark all over you and you still don’t say a thing. You’re enjoying what he’s doing, you want him to touch you like this and bruise your skin in the best way possible. That, above all things, is most important to Luhan.  

“Please touch me,” you mumble against Luhan’s bare collar bone. He’d been so lost in your taste that he didn’t realise you were done.  

“Are you sure?” Luhan asks. He’s not done this with you before and he won’t do it unless he’s sure that you’re ready. And, much to the pounding in Luhan’s heart, you nod eagerly and rush to press your lips onto his once more, hands reaching for his to place them specifically where you wanted him. Luhan can’t help but chuckle deeply against your lips. “I have to tell you something.”

Luhan’s fingers are too quick for his words. Before he tells you what he wishes to actually say he’s pushed the tips of his fingers into your pink shorts and brushes them over your so so sensitive skin. He revels in the way that you call his name so softly as he gets closer to your sex.  

He kisses gently down your entire body, stopping when he reaches your shorts so that he could pay as much attention to you as possible. His hands move to your top, slipping underneath the velvet fabric to ghost his palms up until your peaked nipples are touching him and he swears on it that this is the best moment to ever happen in his life.  

“I’ve fallen in love with you,” Luhan says. He looks up to see your reaction and isn’t dissatisfied by the way that you look down at him with your lips gapped, ready to echo the syllables of his name as he got closer to you.  

Really, he didn’t expect to hear it back. Zitao was very clear when he had a pep talk with Luhan about you and your feelings, that you weren’t going to fall in love with Luhan straight away. You’d love him, maybe, but you wouldn’t fall in love as quickly as the overly clingy boy from Beijing did. So he stalls, and instead of waiting to hear your reply he drags your shorts down your thighs until they are by your knees and just stares.  

You, to Luhan, are perfection personified in the most palpable way. Even as he lets his hands fall between your thighs and push them apart even further, giving him the first look at your core and showing him you are so wet for him and only him, he’s sees you as one he might call the love of his very life.  

“Luhan,” you cry, reaching a hand down to his hair that’s freshly bleached a dusty blonde colour. You take his locks in your fingers and he revels  in the way you tug ever so gently to get him to take more of you. “Please, Luhan, touch me.”

Luhan smirks cockily. A new found confidence is rattling his bones and he blows delicately on your clit that you’re begging for him to touch. He doesn’t leave you completely pure, though, because when he notices your hazy eyes that call for him he just runs his tongue over your clit ever so gently. “Here?”

“There,” you confirm with a slight whimper. You tug at his hair again for him to get closer, and he does just that.  

Luhan waits a moment before sliding his finger through your folds and brings it to his lips, licking off your juices that make him groan a little. “This is heaven.”

A hum leaves Luhan’s lips just before he makes his move, attaching his mouth to your core and then running his tongue up your slit. He stops at your clit to suck at the sensitive nub for a moment, moaning when he feels your hips shift forward so he can cover more of you in a shorter amount of time. Why didn’t he do this sooner? He wasn’t sure.  

Your hands are tugging at his hair but it doesn’t make him speed up at all, he knew what he was doing – he was going to make sure that he was getting every reaction that he wanted from you. Though he tries to steady your pace with a delicate touch of your hips to hold them down to the bed, he can’t try to exert any extra pressure to hold you down in a way that might hurt you. Luhan will treat you like the goddess he knows you are inside. He will, quite simply, do anything for you.  

“Are you close?” Luhan asks. He hopes you are but if you’re not that’s fine too – he can be closer to you than before and experience everything you have to offer to him.  

You nod, catching Luhan’s eyes before he sucks at your clit one more time before you throw your head back and cry out his name so loudly that everyone back in Beijing can probably hear. It sends shivers down Luhan’s spine and the second he pulls away before you can come undone all over him, you bring your hand to his slightly wet chin to tilt is head up towards you. “I won’t lie, Luhan, I’m falling in love with you too.”

Luhan knows you wouldn’t lie to him.

元角分

“Where are you?” You call through the phone. Luhan is distracted by the fact he can hear a fire alarm in the distance but manages to ignore it for the sake that you’ve called him. “ Luhan, please tell me where you are are. Are you still at the hotel?”  

This was the first time since Hao Bai’s daughter’s wedding that you hadn’t come on a trip with him. He was in Busan, you’d opted to stay in Seoul to look after your own business, but now Luhan was beginning to regret it. The tone of your voice made it seem like this was the end for something, if not for him. “I’m still in bed, Li Ying. What’s the matter?”

“You need to leave,” you tell him. It’s not advice, it’s a command that Luhan knows is serious. You’re his girlfriend. He knows when you mean why you say and now is one of those desperate times when he needs to shut up and listen to whatever you have to say. He knows that you’re smart. He knows you’ll do anything to protect him. “Chen is there and he’s looking for you. Someone seems to have told the Kim Brothers that you’re planning an attack against them and they’ve sent him for you. Don’t leave the room, go through the window.”

Luhan is by no means the same as Chen. Chen is a born killer who had it set in life to sort out business for his elder and younger brothers Kai and Suho. “How do you know?”

“Luhan, I’m begging you, get out of there now.”

“I’m going,” Luhan tells you. He won’t second guess your command and he’s especially quick to jump out of his bed and pull on some shoes that are next to his bed so that he can get out as quickly as possible. He’s still got his sweats on and his plain tee, so he won’t look too out of place if he leaves now and has to go through the streets to wherever he can be picked up. “Where is he?”

You sigh in relief at hearing Luhan’s voice and it brings him some contentment. You care, that’s what he needs to know. If he gets out of Chen’s grasp alive then he had somewhere to go back to in the end; someone to go back to. “Floor below you. He doesn’t know what room you’re in so he’s checking each one but he set a stairwell below on fire and it’s blocking the fire exit nearest to you.”

“And if I go to the other fire exit?”

“You’ll have to get past him,” you say quickly. Though Luhan has no idea how you’re seeing all of this he trusts your words and moves towards the hotel window that he can’t open fully due to safety precautions. He’s on the third floor and if he acts quickly he can move across the outside ledges to the next building. “Luhan, you need to get out the window. It’s the only way.”

Because he believes you, the first thing Luhan does is find the heaviest object he can. It’s a book, one in Korean that he doesn’t really care for, and he throws it at the window that is only single glazed. Luckily it smashes but he knows he’s being too loud and that he must be quiet. “Can you do me a favour?”

“Anything,” you answer immediately.  

“Can you call Kris and tell him that I’ll need a car at Heungguk Bank in twenty minutes?” Luhan asks. He’s a little nervous himself. Usually his men are around him but he’s been safe the past three and a bit months so he dismissed them when he was on trips to other places. They had wives, children and families. He couldn’t expect them to be with him at his beckoned call.  

“I’ll call now on the other phone.”

Your words make Luhan pause. He glances at the time on his phone and notices it’s only seven forty in the morning and that you’re not usually at work until past nine. It’s then that the whispering around your own voice and in the background of the call  make him even more confused as to where you are. “Are you at work?”

“Uh, no,” you tell him. It’s the first time you’ve ever hesitated with Luhan and he’s worried.  

“How are you accessing the CCTV?” Luhan asks. He’s still trying to get out, he still wants to be back with you so he can hold you in his arms and forgot that Chen might want to kill him, but nothing makes sense. “Li Ying, answer me! How are you seeing what’s happening? How do you even know that Chen is here!”

Silence. That’s all Luhan is met with - he’s unsure if you’re choosing to ignore him but when he hears your soft talking to what sounds like Kris, he breathes a sigh of relief. You tell Kris everything Luhan said and end with a thank you, telling him to be quick with his actions. Luhan, he thinks, is safe with you on his side. “Listen to me, Luhan, I’m on my laptop and I know because I’ve got eyes on you like I always do! Do you think I would risk losing you? I love you!”

There it was. The first time you had said you loved Luhan since he met you. If he wasn’t in his current situation then he would have said it a thousand times over so you knew how he felt.  

“Baby,” Luhan says slowly, keeping his voice quiet. He can hear heavy footsteps and he’s sure that Chen is on his floor now so he won’t risk himself, either. “I’m going to be fine. I’m coming home to you tonight and I promise I won’t leave you. Never.”

He’s sure he hears crying but doesn’t bring it up because he knows he can’t imagine life without you. He’ll stay strong for you. “I broke my rules for you, Luhan.”

“What?” Luhan’s single-worded sentence follows his lack of attention on your words as he tries to haul himself out of the window. His feet land on the outside concrete with a thump and he spots his exit without pause. What did you even say to him.  

“I can’t lose you,” you tell Luhan with a soft voice. He focuses on your words now and stumbles across the ledge so he can get to the other building. You’re not usually so open with him about how you feel. “Luhan, please. Make it out of every situation alive. I promise you that I’ll always be there to help you through, okay?”

Luhan takes a deep breath. Today was close. He might not have survived today if he didn’t meet you. But, in the same sense, he wouldn’t have had such a close with Chen if you wouldn’t have been in his life. The latter was bullshit to him. “I won’t ever leave you, Li Ying.”

A thank you is offered in return for his words and Luhan is left to make his own way to the bank he’d got you to tell Kris about. He can still hear whispers on your end of the phone but puts it off as the television or something else that is produced noise. You’ve just saved his life; you’re not deceiving him. If you wanted something from him or you were playing him you would have took it a long time ago. He knew you, he knew you wouldn’t say I love you without meaning it.  

“It was Hao Bai,” Luhan states. He doesn’t mean to say it out loud but as he climbs onto the next rooftop he really thinks about it. Hao Bai had the capability to know where he was. “That would make sense, wouldn’t it?”

You don’t respond, instead opting to remain silent as you presumably think through it. “Luhan I don’t think he’d go this far. He likes to kill people, not issue death warrants. It seems like something bigger than this.”

“Why wouldn’t he do this? He wants me dead, you said that yourself. It would make sense for him to tell Chen were I am so I received the worse punishment of all. Death without those I love around me.”

“Luhan,” you say calmly. He can almost imagine your apologetic eyes facing him. “It’s not him.”

“It has to be be, he’s the only one that—”

“—it’s not him, Luhan.” There’s no point arguing back against you now and Luhan knows it. He’s dealt with you arguing against him before but not on such a big topic like this. You liked to be right but this wasn’t opinion. You were going to tell him a fact. “It’s not Hao Bai because he’s dead.”

Luhan knows he should look into it, but he thinks you know what you’re talking about.  

元角分

Luhan hasn’t seen you in twenty minutes and to say he’s worried is an understatement. The entirety of his rivals are here; the Kim Brothers, the Unnamed and even some of Bangtan have flooded the room. He knows that you can look after yourself but he also knows that these men will stop at nothing to see him and his brothers gone. Like Hao Bai. Like Zitao’s brother.  

“Luhan,” Yixing says softly. They’re sitting next to each other on a table that’s near to the stage where various people have spoken about topics that many felt strongly about. “I don’t wish to alarm you, but there’s been a breach from the west exit.”

Breach?  That meant only one thing in Luhan’s mind. His eyes quickly search for all the people he would attribute a breach to but… they’re all there. Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Sehun are all sipping on beers in the corner table and the Kim Brothers are each seated with win glasses in their hands. Even Bangtan are all huddled together laughing about something.  

Luhan knows there’s a problem. Whenever someone would mention a breach and none of the rivals are missing then it can only mean one thing. Police. The police must be following and must know something is wrong. “Yixing, get someone to find Li Ying. I’ll sort it out with Kris.”

“Of course,” Yixing answers. He bows his head at Luhan and turns to his other side where the man who originally told him that there was a breach is sitting, mostly on edge. Everyone knew something was wrong. The atmosphere seemed to change in the space of a few minutes and it was like all the air in the room was sucked out.  

Call it leader’s instinct, but both Suho and Kyungsoo stood at the same time and they were each heading in the same direction as Luhan – to Kris. The eldest was by the fully paid bar, glaring into the crowd like he had heard something similar to Luhan. Strange, but Zitao was no where to be seen either. Luhan would hope that you were with him.

“Kris,” Luhan greets as he nears him, “there’s a problem.”

“I know,” Kris answers. He takes a deep breath, along with a swig of his whiskey that fills the glass in his hands. The veins on his neck are showing and as both Suho and Kyungsoo approach Kris looks more ready to smash the very glass.

But neither say anything. They just stand behind Luhan with expressionless faces that denote the fact no one is hunting anyone this time. No one is against each other. In the eyes of who Luhan suspects are the police, his brothers, Suho’s brothers and Kyungsoo’s brothers are equally wanted and equally killable.  

“Is this a set up?” Kyungsoo asks. He’s the scariest of them all. He doesn’t smile, he doesn’t dare show emotion unlike his partners who love to joke around with each other.  

“Wu Yifan, I appreciate that you’re stressed out but answer Do Kyungsoo,” Suho says, putting emphasis on his imperative tone that follows his words. All the leader wants is so peace and quiet in his life because he’s meant to be getting married soon and Luhan, quite openly, understands that want. “I have men on the line. Don’t make me send them into a situation they’re at risk in for no reason.”

Kris doesn’t answer still. He places down his glass and looks Luhan dead in the eyes. “There’s a problem with security. Get anyone you deem unsafe to fight outside of the eastern doors now. Fight for yourselves.”

“Kris, what is going on?”  

“Walk with me, now,” Kris tells Luhan. He doesn’t wait for Luhan to start walking an instead attaches his hand to Luhan’s arm so the boy is dragged forward with Kris. There’s an underlying anger filling Luhan’s veins just like there is with Kris, but between them it’s hard to say who’s scarier when annoyed. “That girlfriend of yours. You trust her?”

Luhan keeps quiet. He does. He trusts her with his entire world and even more, but he knows Kris doesn’t want him to answer because it will just make him even more pissed off – if that was even possible. “What has happened?”

“She fuckin’ ratted us out,” Kris states. He stops, looks back to Luhan and lets out a laugh dripping with sarcasm. “Li Ying. How much bullshit did she tell you? She’s a fucking police officer and she’s standing outside right now with her pack of dogs who have been waiting to catch you since the two of you started talking. (y/n), that’s her real name. She played you in the art of deception and won.”

“You’re lying.” Luhan is trying to hold onto his own reality. You wouldn’t do that. He thinks you wouldn’t. He knows you’ve been hiding things from him and he knows there’s truth behind your words but he thinks that everything you’ve told him is not a lie. You love him. You do. You wouldn’t lie about that.

Kris doesn’t get a chance to reply. Yixing comes running in the room with Zitao following close behind shouting something about guards being down. Luhan is sure that Zitao is hurt somewhere on his body because of the blood trailing down his white shirt and it dawns on him that there is one person in all of this that he still wants to know is okay. You. Only you.

He doesn’t care if you’re a police officer. He doesn’t care if you’ve betrayed him; he needs to know if you’re okay so he can be taken into court or prison or whatever. He’s accepted his fate. He needs to know what yours is.  

“Here,” Kris says, shoving a gun in Luhan’s chest. The elder is not impressed by anything and is the only one that knows what to do in the case of a shootout. No, none of the men in the room have done this before, there’s only been shitty training where they’re told to shoot ‘anyone that’s not on your team’.  

Luhan was expected to kill Li Ying if he sees her. That hit him hard. He wouldn’t dream of it – he couldn’t even think for a second that he’d have to spend another second of his life without you. So he gets himself to Zitao and Yixing who are next to Kai and Xiumin, surprisingly. Luhan manages to see Tao’s chest, but the wound is something he can’t locate.  

“Take this,” Xiumin says to Yixing. The pair have spoken before because Yixing saved Xiumin’s life once without realising it was one of the Kim Brothers. Xiumin owed Yixing, he took it. “Stay here. Chen and I will check the other entrances.”

Yixing nods. He’s got blood on his hands too. Maybe Luhan is imagining this all but it’s getting harder to breath all of a sudden. He’s trying to check on Zitao is okay but he can’t process more than the sight of blood. Zitao, after seeing blood on a regular occurance. Hitman, surgeon – really they saw the same things each day.  

“It’s not mine,” Zitao says. Luhan’s sure that he was going to give him the name to who’s blood it was but Yixing gives him a look that says not to. Instead, Zitao pulls the safety off of his gun and takes a long, deep breath. “Lu Han, whatever Kris said, ignore it. Think about surviving now. Think about tomorrow and what you want to happening, not what is going to happen.”

Wise quote, Luhan thinks. He refrains from answering and instead focuses on the door that he’s seen Zitao and Yixing come in from. That’s where you’ll come in from, if Kris isn’t lying. Luhan doesn’t know who to believe.  

I broke my rules for you, Luhan.

I won’t lie, Luhan, I’m falling in love with you too.

He knows, very clearly, that after everything he will believe you.

“Nobody move!” A voice shouts. It’s unfamiliar but Luhan somehow links it to a face of a police officer that he knows is searching for him somewhere. “We’re here for one person, no one else.”

Luhan and Yixing share a look. Luhan thinks it’s him but Yixing is smart enough to know it’s about Luhan. If this wasn’t about Luhan then they would have sorted this out a long time ago. So, they both oblige, standing up slowly with their hands either side of their head. Luhan’s gun was thrown next to Zitao, who knew his cue.

“Lu Han, step forward,” another officer calls. There’s about twenty men and women dressed in black with bulletproof vests on and guns in their hands. Luhan knows it’s best to go but he won’t leave until he’s at least seen you.

“Gege,” Zitao says softly. He looks up to Luhan with an emotionless face and teary eyes. Luhan is scared, he will admit, but he won’t act like that in front of Tao. He smiles softly, eyeing the bulletproof vest that Zitao clutches in his hands, one which Luhan failed to notice before. He tries to read the name tag but his own eyes are blurry now. “Don’t go. I’ll fight for you.”

Luhan can’t bring himself to say no. He won’t even say yes. He wishes that Zitao wasn’t here and that you would have just took him in earlier before all of this could happen. So he steps forward on the hard floor and ignores everyone’s stares, including the ones from Kris who seems even more surprised that Luhan is giving up so easily. “I’m here.”

Hao Bai is in the crowd of officers. He’s no longer wearing the suit he loved so much an instead has a uniform on that matches that of everyone else. He’s not Hao Bai. That man probably died years ago with his son that Luhan ordered to die. Made sense, that did. They even catch eyes, but the man acts as if he’s only ever seen Luhan as a man who killed many men, not just his son.

“Don’t!”

Luhan’s heart stops at that voice. Your voice. It’s all he prayed to hear when feeling his freedom slip from around him. He turns to you, eyes glassy with each movement, taking in your broken figure. You’re covered in black like the others but there’s a rip in your shirt by your shoulder and all Luhan can see is blood. No bulletproof vest. Is that your blood on Zitao?

“Captain,” you say pleadingly. There’s an air of begging surrounding you and something tells Luhan that the captain is the one who shot you. “The money. It was spent on European medical treatments.”

The man who called out Luhan’s name laughs bitterly. He raises his hand again and points it straight at you, then swings his hand around to face Luhan. The nose is aiming right for his chest. All the other officers follow, apart from you. “Lu Han, you’re being arrested on suspicion of purchasing illegal weaponry. If you don’t step forward then we have the right to use force.”

“That’s bullshit!” You call out. There’s pain in your voice and the first thing you do raise your hand with a small pistol enclosed in your fingers, aiming straight for the man you called captain. It didn’t matter to you that there was a wall of officers blocking your shot.  

“Just because you deleted the transcript confirming that Lu Han said those words doesn’t mean we can’t access them,” the captain states. He laughs at your attempt to stop what’s set in fate but Luhan is also distracted by the people around him. Kris is in a rage. He’s saying something about how he’s going to kill the captain. Zitao’s got your bullet proof vest on and has a sniper in his arms that he’s ready to use against someone. You stand there, not daring to look to Luhan. “No one else has to follow you, Lu Han. We only want Lu Han, everyone else is—”

Dead? It seemed that way. Luhan lost his mind when he heard the sound of a shot flying through the air from his direction. He doesn’t want to move but he has to – Yixing is shouting his name and someone’s pulling at his leg so he’ll get down to the ground. He looks to his left and the Kim Brothers are in a panic. Suho is trying to say something to Kai and Xiumin is on the phone to who can be assumed is Chen, saying that he needs to get back as soon as he ever possible could.

But who fired the shot that hit the captain? It’s Oh Sehun, Luhan knows it must be. He’s emotionless in expression and the way that Chanyeol pulls him down to the ground too, it shows it must be Sehun who’s made the final shot. Luhan makes up a story about how he did it for you in his head, but realises that he still has no idea why you wanted Sehun dead to begin with.  

“Luhan!” It’s a pointless call of his name from Zitao because Luhan is completely uncovered. There’s no one to block any shots that are coming his way and he knows there’s a gun from some lady with bleached hair coming directly his way. She’s familiar. Luhan can feel it in his heart, the one that’s about to get hit with her bullet.

He’s deceived by the feeling of your back hitting his chest. At first he thinks this is what it’s like to be shot because he hears the sound of that bullet that was for him, but he doesn’t feel pain. Luhan feels only comfort, a feeling given by your body on his. He had been laying on his side, facing the wall of officers, but now all he see was… you.

“Luhan,” you say softly. It’s too quiet for him to notice at first. There’s shots all around him from different places but the two of you are in clear view of everyone. He hasn’t been hit. Luhan hasn’t been hit with any bullet. There’s no blood on him and he’s breathing fine. “Luhan, don’t move.”

Kris is still shouting at Yixing to do something about Luhan – they all think he’s been hit too. No one was paying attention to you. They didn’t look at you like you’d saved his life more than once now. “(y/n).”

“Go when I say,” you tell him. It’s registering to Luhan now what’s happening. He’s in shock but you’ve been shot and there’s nothing he can do about it. If he moves you, tries to save you, your head will be next. So he listens, moving one hand to yours and lacing his fingers in yours with the given opportunity. You’d saved Zitao. You’d saved Luhan. You’d been trying to help all along, just like now. He didn’t want to leave but he had to. Fate meant he had to go. You said he had to go. “Make it out of every situation alive.”

Luhan knows he won’t leave you, ever.

元角分

Zitao’s boots hit the floor louder than ever. Though they’re both okay, they’ve had heightened senses ever since leaving that room that had a thick stench of blood. It was a blessing, maybe, but it had Luhan paranoid for the safety of everyone, especially Zitao.  

“I think they’re gone,” Tao comments. He’s looking around the corner to where Yixing had directed them. Just a few more steps and he’d be reunited with the person he’d wanted to see so desperately. Tao was the only thing that connected Luhan to you right now. Yixing had told him that you’d been kept in a top floor toom and you’d been handcuffed to the bed so that you couldn’t leave.  

Not that you could move normally, anyway. You hadn’t woken up since you told Luhan to leave. He hated himself for not helping but he knew your colleagues would have pulled you to safety so they could throw you under the bus like him. They wanted you to live a dull life enclosed in four walls – all because you fell in love.  

“Do you have the keys?” Luhan asks. He watches Zitao closely as the younger boy pats his back pocket and nods immediately. Luhan didn’t want to know how, but Zitao had managed to get these keys off the guard downstairs. He was saved by you, too, so he owed you. In fact, Luhan was sure that Zitao loved you like a sister at this point. “We’ve got two minutes to get her out back. If she’s off the IV any longer then she’ll go into cardiac arrest, okay?”

Zitao nods. He knows how vital it is to Luhan that this goes to plan, and he also knows that the pair have to thank Yixing feverously after all this for helping them so much. Though he looks timid in his actions, Zitao beckons for Luhan to follow as they move around the corner. “She’s going to be okay, Luhan.”

“I know,” he replies gently. It’s not that he wants her to be okay, its that he needs her to live through this so he can carry on living his life like normal. No – he needed her to carry on living. Period.  

Luhan has to hold his breath when he sees your face through the opened curtain. There’s a lifeless tinge in your lips and though your eyes aren’t open he knows that behind your lids are hazy eyes filled with doubt. Would he come back for you? That you couldn’t answer. The nurses had been made to be gentle with you as per Yixing’s command and Luhan was thankful. You were delicate, like the sheets he laid in with you. Like his heart made only for you.  

“I didn’t think we would see her again,” Zitao says. He’s the first one to walk into your room, and he brings his hand to rest on the bed that you’re laying in. Luhan takes note of the lack of colour in your room – there’s no flowers or cards or anything. The silver cuffs that stop you escaping are the brightest in the room.  

“I wouldn’t let that happen,” Luhan tells Zitao, offering a small smile. “After everything she said and did for all of us, there was no way that I would leave without at least saying goodbye. She’s the reason that we’re all still here.”

Zitao lets out a bitter laugh as he stares down at your figure. He shakes his head, and Luhan is sure that he sees a tear fall from his right eye that’s quickly brushed away. “Hey, (y/n), you knew they would just shoot you again so why did you give me your vest? It’s like you…”

A sob fills the room and it sends Luhan back into his mode of shock. He just stares at Zitao with wide eyes as he falls to his knees and rests his head on the edge of your bed. He’d never cried like this over anyone before. Luhan can’t fully comprehend it because he’s about to cry too, he just wants to stay strong with Zitao.  

“…it’s like you _wanted_ to die!”

“Tao,” Luhan mumbles, dropping to his knees too. He reaches his hands around Zitao’s shoulders and brings the younger boy into his chest, accepting him with open arms. They all needed each other now. “Tao, it’s okay. She’s okay.”

Zitao nods into Luhan’s skin. He pulls away slowly and wipes his tears once more sniffling away the last of his worries. Luhan thinks he can believe his own words – you’ve been shot right in the heart. Yixing said you were strong, but never said you’d live. “I never told you because she asked me never to say a word, but you were the first person she ever fell in love with.”

“She would tell you not to say anything,” Luhan jokes, mostly with himself. He can even hear you saying the very words to Zitao after he overheard you trying to let out your emotions yourself. “Promise me that you’ll see her as much as you can when she’s at mine.”

“Of course I will! She’s the only person that ever listens to my fashion talk so why would I not?”  

There’s a lingering silence that fills the room after Zitao’s question. Luhan shows that every bone in his is filled with hurt after everything that’s happened. Really, he won’t leave your side whatsoever and his life will consist of making sure he’s the first thing you see when you wake up. His life revolves around you, but that’s okay. He wants it to. Maybe he is being deceived by his life for you, but he thinks everything will be okay.  

As he stares down at your face that’s laying gently on the white pillow, acting like a frame to display your beauty for all to see. Luhan almost doesn’t want to move you, but he can’t go another day without you. He loves you, he knows that he loves you more than words can say. He knows that even if you were the one to shoot him straight through the heart, you’d be the only person his heart stayed beating for.

Luhan knows now that he can’t live without you.

**Author's Note:**

> okay so ive written depressing things before but this hit me hard?? i hope that certain things were obvious - ie. oc wasnt the one who sold lu han out and that there was genuine feeling there, and i also hope you liked it in general!! i had a lot of fun writing it sooo


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